1) They must be honest. "We have a patent, if your company does <this> with it, and you're not licensed, you may need to be licensed." Hyperbole not allowed - as in "you could be on the hook for a billion dollars" and "we have extracted judgments from thousands of defendants".

2) If they file a lawsuit, and then after a preliminary investigation you are found NOT to be infringing, THEY pay your costs plus punitive fees for wasting the courts (and our) valuable time running our REAL businesses.

Those two things right there (barring of course actual REAL patent reform) would stop them in their tracks.

What this tactic signals to me is that the NY AG clearly feels that the patent troll in question will not be able to successfully win in court so he's trying to get people to stop responding to these troll letters.

Being nice in their letters isn't the real problem. It's being able to demand money from people/companies without actually witnessing them violating their patent. Sending letters to hundreds of entities based on 'research' into how those entities do their business. If the trolls had to have proof of violation FIRST, before sending out demands , that would really put a kink in their knickers... G

The omission of the word lawsuit and not specifically asking for cash (along with all the news of patent trolls) will probably cause less confusion and fear from small business owners. These letters sound like less of a legitimate threat now and more like something sent from a Nigerian prince.

What is shocking to me is that the consortium of MFC machines out there (HP, Canon, Epson, Lexmark, brother, etc..) are not doing anything to help the people they are selling these machines to who end up getting these letters. How long before there is a lawsuit against printer makers for selling machines that come advertising a feature that violates a patent (regardless of how fucking stupid the patent may be)?

If I went out and bought a car that had some cool sync feature with my phone, and then I got a letter in the mail saying that if I sync my phone to my car it violates XYZ patent and I need to obtain a license to use the feature, it would force me to file suit against the car maker.

It isn't like people are using these features in some novel unintended way that violates a patent, these people are using a feature that is advertised and built into these products. If it does violate this patent, then they need to remove the feature from existing models in a firmware update, and remove it totally from new models.

Ideally someone with some common sense should just invalidate the patent, but until that happens, it seems like this company LOVES the fact that these mfgrs are selling this feature, so they can continue to target the end users.

Being nice in their letters isn't the real problem. It's being able to demand money from people/companies without actually witnessing them violating their patent. Sending letters to hundreds of entities based on 'research' into how those entities do their business. If the trolls had to have proof of violation FIRST, before sending out demands , that would really put a kink in their knickers... G

What if they did get proof? Would that really make the situation better? I don't claim to know what the best defense is, but it surely can't be "pretend you don't have a scanner," right?

If I went out and bought a car that had some cool sync feature with my phone, and then I got a letter in the mail saying that if I sync my phone to my car it violates XYZ patent and I need to obtain a license to use the feature, it would force me to file suit against the car maker.

I'm not sure how this would work unless you were first compelled to pay the letter-writer in a court of law, because you'd have a hard time claiming either threatening letters or voluntary settlements as "damages".

Being nice in their letters isn't the real problem. It's being able to demand money from people/companies without actually witnessing them violating their patent. Sending letters to hundreds of entities based on 'research' into how those entities do their business. If the trolls had to have proof of violation FIRST, before sending out demands , that would really put a kink in their knickers... G

What if they did get proof? Would that really make the situation better? I don't claim to know what the best defense is, but it surely can't be "pretend you don't have a scanner," right?

In a way it would, since then they would have to actually get out to tall those businesses and see how they use those machine (if they can see that at all) which increases their costs dramatically, compared to just sitting at home and sending out letters based on "best guesses" of how that business uses certain "functions" and hoping enough people are scared into settling.

Ok, I think physical violence is not a good thing and self-justice either, but in that case where judicial system is failing completely: would an actual riot full of people threatened by those s**tty patent trolls breaking into their houses, breaking a few of their bones and showing them that they can lose big, be a solution?

After all many revolutions that had violence inside, are now well regarded by history.

Don't know about you, but in such cases I am more inclined to punch the guys in such a way they can make a necklace with their teeth, than answering them with letters... and be deeply drowned into endless costly procedures with a failing judicial system.

Ok, I think physical violence is not a good thing and self-justice either, but in that case where judicial system is failing completely: would an actual riot full of people threatened by those s**tty patent trolls breaking into their houses, breaking a few of their bones and showing them that they can lose big, be a solution?

After all many revolutions that had violence inside, are now well regarded by history.

Don't know about you, but in such cases I am more inclined to punch the guys in such a way they can make a necklace with their teeth, than answering them with letters... and be deeply drowned into endless costly procedures with a failing judicial system.

Rioting against the individual patent troll won't solve it in the long run, they'll just become better at hiding them self's. The riot needs to go up to the capitol instead and get the laws changed for any long term solution to be effective.